Have you ever been horrified to discover an obvious typo on your resume, proposal or blog?

Perhaps you’ve sent written messages from your smartphone that made you look dumb because your fat fingers pressed the wrong keys and formed a bizarre string of letters. In turn, those letters took on a whole new meaning that you didn’t intend to send. Or the smartphone made changes that you didn’t notice until just after you hit the send key. Argh!

Maybe you checked it over multiple times and never caught that mistake. Now, it’s out there in the public and you look sloppy and less professional. Why were you in such a hurry to get your work out there? How did that typo escape your eyes and the eyes of others reviewing the work?

 A near miss

Just last week, my proofreader (who happens to be a team: my father, a retired engineer, backed up my mother, a retired clinical laboratory scientist), saved me from an embarrassing spelling error in the first paragraph of my blog. I was telling a story of why it’s important to be persistent in networking.

Because I’m an auditory-dominant learner and communicator, I often spell things phonetically and say them how I hear them. I frequently pronounce words wrong. I’ve done this for years. My writing style is similar to my speaking style: conversational and full of sound effects. This hasn’t stopped me from being a successful author and professional speaker.

In my last networking tip I wanted to use a surprising sound effect to bring some fun factor into my opening paragraph. I didn’t know how to spell the sound, so I did a cursory search on Google. I came away satisfied that the correct spelling was wah-lah.

Upon reviewing my blog, my proofreading team sent me a funny link from the Urban Dictionary. Here’s what it said:

The sound effect I was looking for was a French word, voilà, pronouced vwä-ˈlä.

I had no clue and had to laugh thinking of how many times in my life I had pronounced it as “wah lah.” To all my French readers and French-literate friends, please forgive my ignorance.

Slow down, you move too fast

In my rush to publish my networking tip, I came dangerously close to being classified as a dumb ass. How could this happen? Was it because I never took French in school? Was it because I was too lazy and took shortcuts in my research?  Or was it because I was too close to my own work and needed a second set of eyes to review the work before deploying?

I think it was all the above, plus the fact that I was working too fast and too last minute.

The dangers of instant gratification

We live in a world where technology allows us to be continuously connected to each other. Communicating in written form can now be zapped over the Internet at lightning speed. There’s no need to print or mail a letter anymore. Now, you can simply email that proposal or text that response.

There’s no time for reflection, for pondering, for double checking or re-writing. We are driven to produce, produce, produce. The more the better. The faster the better. Even if it’s riddled with errors and doesn’t present our best selves. Tick it off the list and let’s move on to the next thing.

Nothing short of NOW will do.

How can you protect yourself from careless mistakes in written communication?

1. Mistakes on your resume: Hire a resume expert to review and polish your resume. They can be helpful in positioning you and your experience in the best possible light with the right keywords.  They are also skilled and trained with proper grammar and layout best practices to keep the reader engaged in your resume. Don’t rely on your peers or networking buddies to proofread your resume. That’s not their expertise and it’s not their job.
2. Mistakes on proposals and business letters: It is essential that you correctly spell the name of the recipient and their company name on any formal correspondence. That’s one of the reasons why I collect business cards when I meet with prospects and clients. Always have a neutral party review your proposal prior to sending it out. Have them double-check your math and your spelling. Allow time for this third party review, at least 24 hours. If the review comes back with no changes or mistakes caught, I would seriously have another person take a look at it. Consider hiring a professional writer, editor or proofreader to help you with important documents. It’s money well spent. Their expertise will make you look and read great!
• I have worked professionally with copywriter and author, Chris Amorosino, proofreader and editor, Nancy Simonds and award winning writer, editor and social media geek, Anne Witkavitch. Check out their web sites.
  
3. Mistakes on email: Save a draft of your email before sending it. Print it out  on paper and proof read it, including your Subject line. Read it out loud. Read it backwards. Run your finger over each word to ensure correct spelling.  The last piece of information you should put on your email is the To: email address. First, send your email to yourself to see how it looks and how it reads. Whenever possible, shorten it and ensure it has strong visual appeal (your email communication should never be visually overwhelming). Do not use ALL CAPS or too many !!!!!! in your email communication. Limit the number of people that you copy on your email communication. Use the reply all button as infrequently as possible (the exception, not the rule to your email communication practices).
   
4. Mistakes in presentations: The less copy/fewer bullet points you have on your slides, the fewer grammatical mistakes you risk. In fact, if you use PowerPoint purely for visual support and show only pictures, you are unlikely to make any spelling errors. If you are re-using an older presentation, be careful if you copy/paste to a new file. You may have other client names or old dates embedded in headers/footers or notes that would bring embarrassment to your current presentation. Print out all your slides and materials and go through them with a fine tooth comb. The fewer the slides, the better for your audience and for you!
   
5. Mistakes on text messages: Multitasking is often the source of mistakes with mobile device communication. Take the time to focus on doing what you are doing, one thing at a time. (This could save your life!) Avoid use of codes and truncated language with email and text messages. Take the time to spell things out clearly. Use a stylus or other device to help you select the right keys when typing your message on your mobile device. I find a stylus helps me overcome “fat finger syndrome.”
• Sidenote: Texting is often confusing since truncated language and abbreviations made up by the texting author are often interposed with keyboard errors. And there is often little concern for proper spelling, since that can take many time consuming keystrokes.  Just abbreviate and get on with it is bad form.
6. Mistakes online: Immediately correct any mistakes that you see or that people call to your attention. Take down any posts or comments that have obvious or embarrassing errors. Then re-post the corrected one. Copy/paste your on-line commentary into some form of word document that has a spell check function and run it through. Then copy/paste the corrected comment back onto your online page. I recommend that you refrain from using profanity or offensive language or images in your online communication. Once posted, it’s public and permanent. It’s a reflection of you.

Your Networking Tip for the Week

Exercise mindfulness in your written communication this week. Slow down and be more thoughtful in what you write and what you send out online or offline. Build in some “wait time” before you hit that SEND button. Communication is not a race; it’s an art form. Remember to let the paint dry before you ship your Picasso. Take more time; it’s worth it. You’re worth it.

If you need help with your written communication, check out online courses or adult education classes in your community. It doesn’t matter if you are a business professional, a writer, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, an entrepreneur, a school teacher, a college student: you will need to have strong written communication skills to be successful in your career.

Bonus: Take a proofreader to lunch this week. If you don’t have a proofreader in your professional network, then seek one out. Figure out what makes them tick and call upon them when you need the help. Don’t be so cheap that you skimp on the review process. Consider it insurance for your professional reputation.

p.s. my proofreading team found more than 20 things to correct in my original draft. Thank goodness for proof-readers. Oh, I mean proofreaders.